Conquering Boston

Capt. Kelly Elmlinger didn’t think the 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon would be the last race she ran. A runner since elementary school, Elmlinger went to college on an athletic scholarship and has continued to compete in events throughout her nearly 20 years in the Army. The November marathon was her first big race after being assigned to San Antonio Military Medical Center following nursing school. On race day, temperatures climbed into the 90s, slowing Elmlinger and hundreds of other runners. She missed qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon that day—a lifelong goal—by a matter of minutes. “Obviously I was disappointed, but I knew I could do it,” she says of her resolution to someday qualify.

After the race, Elmlinger decided to take a break and finally see a doctor about her nagging lower leg pain. Doctors weren’t alarmed initially, citing the pain as a blood vessel issue that simple surgery should fix. But Elmlinger’s pain only increased after the procedure. Doctors assessed her again and this time determined she had synovial sarcoma—a rare form of cancer. As a nurse, Elmlinger knew the term, but the reality of her diagnosis didn’t set in until her own nurse said the word ‘cancer.’ “I was healthy, I was active, I jumped out of airplanes, I deployed—why would you expect it to be something bad like that?” she says.

When she’d finished nursing school, Elmlinger had requested an assignment to serve wounded warriors in San Antonio. Now she’d be treated alongside her patients. “It was a blessing I’d asked to come to San Antonio,” she says. “I knew the path ahead of me. I knew it was going to be long, it was going to be rough and it was going to have a lot of ups and downs.” Over the next year, she went through nine surgeries to remove the cancer and reconstruct her leg, endured radiation and had tissue and arteries cut from her arm and moved to her leg to repair some of the damage. A rod was also inserted because the little bone that remained was too brittle to withstand her weight. The surgeries meant she didn’t have to have an amputation, but it quickly became clear during rehab that running was no longer an option. A Texas Regional Paralympic Sport official suggested Elmlinger try wheelchair racing. “I hated it the first couple of times,” she says. Then, one day during practice, everything clicked. The next time Elmlinger was out on the road with her chair, she says she got that same feeling of relief she used to have while running.

A mentor who helps her train convinced her to sign up for the Los Angeles Marathon in 2015. The hesitant newcomer not only finished but also qualified for the Boston Marathon with more than 10 minutes to spare. When she competes in Boston this month, she won’t line up among the runners like she’d long dreamed. Instead, she’ll race with a handful of other elite wheelchair athletes who she says will challenge her just as much. “I would have liked to do it on my feet, but it’s not any easier in a chair,” she says. “It’s Boston. Even if I only do it once, I can say I ran in one of the most elite running races in the world.”